1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to power brush coating applicators of the type that may be connected to a reservoir containing fluid, such as paint, under pressure to be applied to surfaces with the bristles of a brush. 2. Prior Art
Paint brushes have long been in existence and have required that the bristles of a brush be dipped in fluid, or paint, in a container in almost precisely a correct manner to provide the correct amount of paint that may then be transferred to a surface to be coated. The deficiencies of this time consuming, labor intensive method of coating surfaces have led to many forms of alternative processes and devices for applying fluid to surfaces to be coated. The familiar paint spray apparatus has proven successful in a number of applications, and as noted below, a number of prior art patents are known to exist which relate to paint brushes that contain various and sundry forms of apparatus that may be used to connect the paint brush to a source of fluid under pressure to alleviate the time consuming, labor intensive process.
Examples of such devices may be seen in the following lists of prior art patents:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Issued ______________________________________ 823,458 Abbott 06/12/06 1,335,671 Dunn 03/30/20 1,342,211 Hainsey 06/01/20 1,465,856 Marsh 08/21/23 2,126,999 Mitchell 08/16/38 2,127,000 Mitchell 08/16/38 2,341,881 Rasch 02/15/44 2,542,862 Epperson 02/20/51 2,591,845 Magoon 04/08/52 2,959,801 Pelham 11/15/60 ______________________________________
Thus it may be seen in the development of the prior art with which the present invention is concerned, painting brush devices have progressed from that which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 823,458, issued in 1906, in which paint is applied at the upper end of the bristles of a brush assembly from a source of fluid under pressure.
As happens when using a conventional paint brush, the existence of paint at locations remote from the lower end or tips of the bristles creates problems in continuous use of the brush to apply a coating to a surface. Alternative arrangements for supplying fluid under pressure from the handle of a brush connected to a source are illustrated in the patents listed above which culminate in U.S. Pat. No. 2,591,845 issued in April of 1952 and which still contains a variation on a theme but lacks, at the least, a uniform distribution of paint across the width of the bristles in a brush at the desirable location, adjacent the ends of the bristles of the brush.